The Value – Issue #5: April 2018 Used Vehicle Retention Index

Welcome to The Canadian Black Book – The Value. Our goal is to provide our clients and partners with news, event updates, new initiatives and opinions from Canada’s trusted source for vehicle values and automotive insights. In this edition we cover:

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In a month where new car sales in Canada are beginning to show a faltering trend, 2 to 6 year old used car retained values have hit an all time record high. The Canadian Black Used Vehicle Retention Index finished the month at 103.4, its highest level ever.

In April the Canadian dollar posted a very modest gain of less than half a cent. If that trend continues the stronger Loonie will only accelerate the downward pressure on vehicle prices.

The biggest gainers in the month were the Compact and Sub-Compact cars which both posted a 7.5% gain from the same month last year. Both segments showed a considerable negative trend back in 2015-2016, to a large extent this is still a rebound from that softening of the market. With gas pump prices on a strong upward trend will the Compact and Sub-Compact prices continue to rise? Watch this space to find out! Mid-size cars also showed strength with a 6.6% per cent gain.

Comparing this month to last month the biggest gains were Sub-Compact cars and Full-Size Cars which both retained 1.4% more of their value as compared to March.

The biggest losers in retained value were the Full-Size Pickups which dropped -2.2% from April of last year and the minivan segment which fell -3.6 per cent. It is worth noting that the Full-Size Pickups have declined 5.0% since April 2016. Compared to last month it was the Luxury Car segment which showed the greatest weakness with a decline of -2.4%.